Oakland jaywalkers safety concern

I was standing on Fifth Avenue last Tuesday, chatting with a friend. It was ridiculously… I was standing on Fifth Avenue last Tuesday, chatting with a friend. It was ridiculously humid, but it seemed like just another day in Oakland.

I looked up and saw a woman, too old to be a student, walking across Fifth Avenue. Now, I know what you’re thinking — this is a daily, heck, a momentary, occurrence. Well, it just so happens that this woman walked out in front of not one, not two but three fast-moving cars that had to screech to a halt in order to let her lackadaisically walk across the street against the light. It wasn’t even like the light had been green and just changed to red. No, it was red when she approached the intersection, red when she started crossing and still red when she was playing a crazy game of Frogger with the cars.

Yup, just another day in Oakland.

A little-known fact about me is that I am a fairly new import to Oakland. While I may be graduating in December, God willing, and am a sixth-year college student, this is going to be my third year at Pitt. Three years at Duquesne University taught me the cardinal rule of college campuses.

The students have the right of way. Period. End of story.

I saw it down at Duquesne every day. It didn’t matter if you were going 45 miles per hour. The pedestrians crossing a campus half the size of Oakland’s still were not at fault when you nearly added them as a hood ornament.

When I came to Pitt two years ago, I would yield to traffic. Crossing from the Cathedral of Learning to the William Pitt Union, I would actually wait until there were no cars coming, even if the flock of students around me was already halfway to their destination.

Now, I have learned the real truth about students having the right of way. It doesn’t matter if we are in cars or walking. We can do no wrong. If other students walk in front of our car and we nearly hit them, it’s not our fault. It’s the pedestrians’ problem if they find themselves in front of our cars!

However, the case is a bit different if we’re the ones walking across Bigelow Boulevard, avoiding the crosswalk at all costs. We get completely annoyed at those who have the audacity to honk their horn at us as we run in front of their car, giving their brakes a good workout. I’ve seen students let loose with everything from insults and obscene gestures to expletives and blatant rudeness.

But what we don’t see is the dark side of the situation. People do get hit, as evidenced by the two students who were badly injured last fall after being struck by a car. But that doesn’t stop us from jaywalking, despite it being a citable violation in the city of Pittsburgh.

So my dear fellow Oakland walkers, I offer you the following advice to keep yourself safe. And when I say safe, I mean not only from being hit by cars, but also from the tempers of their drivers.

First off, lose the iPod, walkman, mp3 player — whatever it is that is in your ears, either tone it down or turn it off. Not being able to hear the traffic around you is dangerous. Plus, if you’re rocking to some good Toby Keith, or whatever your preference is, you’re not likely to pay attention to what cars are flying up the street at 30 miles per hour.

The same goes for those of us who have wheels. The blaring stereo is so last summer. No one wants to hear your rap/death metal/country/show tunes. Whether it is while you’re stopped in traffic or parked in front of the Union with your doors open, everyone in a one-mile radius should not be able to hear the new 50 Cent CD you bought.

Actually pay attention to your surroundings. Between bicyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians and drivers, there’s enough going on around you that you shouldn’t be in your own little world when you’re crossing the street. Another idea is to learn what the different colors on the stop light mean. Yellow doesn’t mean slam on the gas pedal/start running across the street any more than red means go ahead and go.

Finally, show some consideration for those around you. Before you go insulting a woman’s virtue based on the fact that she honked a horn at you when you walked right in front of her car, actually think, “did I do something wrong to make her honk her horn?”

I mean, personally, I don’t want to honk my horn. It drowns out the sound of my Clay Aiken CD.

While other drivers may not realize it, Daveen has the right of way all of the time, except in Oakland, apparently. E-mail her feedback at drk974@pitt.edu.